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The latest Auditor-General’s report for the 2019/20 municipal financial year reveals that Northern Cape residents are still paying the price for municipal incompetence.

Municipal incompetence takes the form of poor revenue management.

Eleven municipalities in the province now owe more money than they have, because revenue is not collected or used properly. This includes the Emthanjeni Local Municipality, which agreed in May 2021 to pay performance bonuses rather than settle outstanding Eskom accounts.

This kind of mismanagement leads to residents and ratepayers bearing the brunt of punitive loadshedding.

Although residents suffer poor services due to cashflow constraints, consultants were paid more than R97 million for financial reporting. This money, that could have gone a long way in fixing potholes and burst pipes, was paid in addition to the R184 million spent on salaries for financial units. When municipalities pay twice for the same service, can it be any wonder that so many are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy?

It seems that the ANC-led provincial government does not have the political will to ensure that proper consequences are implemented for municipal mismanagement. The two municipalities placed under provincial administration, namely Renosterberg and Phokwane, failed to submit financial statements. So we can draw our own conclusions about the so-called successes of provincial financial recovery plans!

In her report, the Auditor-General sends a strong message to the Northern Cape that change can only come from leadership willing to drive clean governance. We agree with this sentiment and look forward to the opportunity given to residents in the upcoming local government elections to change the leadership of their municipalities for the better.

In the meantime, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape will request the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to adopt a programme of more regular municipal oversight.

Issued by The DA